Clinicians who want to place nasal or oral enteral feeding tubes in their patients currently rely one of three methods. One method involves blindly passing the feeding tube into the stomach and relying upon gravity and peristalsis to carry it from the stomach into the jejunum. Another method uses fluoroscopy to pass the feeding tube under radiologic guidance. Finally, per-oral sedated endoscopy may be employed to guide a blindly passed transnasal tube from the stomach into the jejunum.
Each of the above-noted procedures is undesirable for a variety of reasons. For example, the blind placement of a feeding tube into a patient can result in the inadvertent intubation of the trachea and possible bronchopleural injuries. Fluoroscopic placement methods are complicated and require the assistance of a radiology department. Sedation is not desirable and poses an inherent risk.